God is able to do more than we think!

 

TUESDAY 31 OCTOBER 2023

EPHESIANS 3 VERSES 14 – 21

In his doxology when writing to the Ephesians, Paul captured a vision of God.  His mind was lifted beyond the natural and focused on the supernatural.  He was pondering from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  Paul was lifted beyond his basic thinking to a great and mighty God.  He saw the greatness of his Lord.  He saw a vision of the one who “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.”  He was trying to give a proper description of Jesus, an accurate picture of his great character and person.  Never before was his vocabulary so stretched.  He wanted to use every word possible to convey the vastness of God’s greatness.  He was describing no ordinary person.  He saw it in a new way.  The extent of what God is able to do is seen in the way he arranges his words.  Think of the many times in scripture when the Lord intervened by his miraculous power in situations.

 

Firstly, when the Children of Israel were held captive in the land of Egypt they endured much heartache and trouble at the hand of the Egyptians. That changed when Moses was raised up to lead his people into the Promised Land.  They didn’t get far when they came up against the Red Sea.  What were they going to do?  Did they make a mistake?  Would they not have been better staying in Egypt than dying in the wilderness?  The enemy was coming behind them fast, the mountains were before them, that uncrossable sea was before them and the powerful God was above them.  Moses stretched out his hand and the sea was divided.  All the company could walk across on dry ground.  Exodus 14 verse 16 “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out tine hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”  There are many uncrossable seas in our lives, the Lord is able to reach down his mighty hand and roll the sea away.  Our God is able to do what we ask him to do.  What we think, what we ask or what we think or ask he is able to do abundantly above all we ask or think exceeding abundantly.  When we think of that why should we ever become anxious and worried?  Why should we ever worry and we do do that.  Why should we fail to come before the Lord in prayer and bring our petitions before him because our God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think?

 

Secondly, think of the 3 Hebrew men delivered from the fiery furnace.  King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.  When the music was sounded all were to bow down to the image.  3 men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow down or worship the image but the true God of heaven.  When it became obvious to the authorities that they refused to bow down to the golden image they were brought before the king.  He was furious, outraged. These 3 men refused to bow before the image so the king ordered for the furnace to be heated 7 times stronger and they were cast into that burning furnace.  As far as Nebuchadnezzar was concerned that was the end of them.  They were astonished when they looked into the furnace and saw a fourth man walking with them in the midst of the flame.  Who was it?  “He who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”  How did we cast 3 men into the fire and there are now 4?  “He answered and said Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”  The Lord is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think.  What impossible situations are you facing today?  Let’s encourage ourselves in the greatness of God’s ability.  He is able to do the impossible in the situations of life.  Let’s just for a moment take our eyes off the circumstances and look to the Lord who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.  Do we really believe that?  That our God is able to do exceeding abundantly?  Do we really believe that God can do the impossible with man?  This is impossible but with God all things are possible.

 

Lastly, another example is in the days of the early church.  A wave of persecution came by King Herod.  James was put to death and Herod was encouraged to do the same with Peter.  It was the days of unleavened bread and executions were not appropriate during such religious holidays.  Therefore in the mean time Peter was put in prison with a guard by four quaternions of soldiers to keep him.  The church in Jerusalem prayed earnestly for him.  While he was sleeping an angel of the Lord appeared and the cell was charged with light.  The angel ordered him to rise up quickly.  His handcuffs fell off and he was told to quickly put on his sandals and cloak. He followed the angel out of the prison passing the first and second guard.  It was only as they approached the iron gate that led into the city that Peter realised this was not a dream but the Lord had appeared to him – Acts 12 verse 11 “And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.”  An impossible situation.  That is the Lord who is able to do exceeding abundantly.  It is worth noting that our God is able to do far more than we ask of him, above of all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.  Our thinking may be limited but he is limitless.  He is able to perform wonders before our very eyes.  We are guilty of limiting God when we come before him in prayer but we must remind ourselves that our God is able to do exceeding abundantly all that we ask or think.  That means to an extent which we cannot express and more than we desire.  When we come before him in prayer the Lord is able to do more than we can conceive.  We might think God can only do so much.  That is a wrong mindset to have.  If we believe in God of small things then we neglect he is able to do great and mighty things.  The God who delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptians, to deliver Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace and Peter from the prison is the same God we serve.  He hasn’t changed.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  If we could get a glimpse of what the Lord is able to do then we would pray for mighty things and expect him to do mighty things.  If we had that right vision that the early church had we would ask him frequently and we would witness him doing miraculous things.

 

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”